Senate readies for another attempt to pass economic development bill

The State Senate takes another stab, this week, at passing SB 45 – the huge economic development bill that has stalled in the chamber. A revised version, with the Quality Jobs component of the legislation intact, hits the floor this week

Senator Brad Lager (R-Savannah) is taking the lead on this newest version of the legislation, saying it addresses the controversial issue of caps and sunsets for tax credits.

“My belief is if we are going to be successful in getting an economic development bill passed,” says Lager. “I believe there will be caps on most programs.”

It’s not that Lager opposes tax credits, but points out these programs cannot be unlimited.

“There are people who, I think, understand the need for them, the benefit of them,” insists Lager. “But at the same time understand that they’ve become such a large piece of our budget that financially we cannot allow tax credits to continue to be an unlimited entitlement. The simple fact is we still have limited financial resources.”

Lager says the Senate version will include key parts of this latest Senate version will include much of HB 191 – the House bill that cleared that chamber in February and was passed by a Senate committee last Thursday.

“Our goal, right now, is to get to a point where we can actually get to conference with the House and try to work out a final version,” states Lager. “There are so many people involved in this and, to be very candid, there are wide views on where this should go, and so we have a very delicate balancing process as we move forward.”